China makes remarkable progress in wetland protection, restoration

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China has made relentless efforts in wetland protection and restoration and witnessed remarkable progress over the past three decades, official data showed.

China now boasts 56.35 million hectares of wetland, including marshes, beaches and lakes, according to the latest land resource surveys. The country also has 64 wetlands of international importance and 29 wetlands of national importance, as well as 901 national wetland parks.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of China joining the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental agreement dedicated to the conservation and rational use of wetland ecosystems.

Over the past thirty years, China has strived to practice the concepts of sustainable development and ecological civilization, and worked hard to promote the protection and restoration of wetlands, said the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Since 2003, the central government has spent 19.8 billion yuan (about 2.73 billion U.S. dollars) on over 4,100 projects to advance wetland protection and restoration across the country.

In June this year, China's new law on wetland protection took effect, marking a new stage of law-based wetlands conservation in the country.

China last month also released a plan for wetland protection for the 2022-2030 period, aiming to increase its wetland protection rate to 55 percent by 2025, while increasing the number of wetlands of international importance and national importance by 20 and 50, respectively.

By 2030, China is expected to have significantly improved ecosystem functioning and biodiversity of wetlands, and to have become a key participant, contributor and leader in global wetland protection and restoration, according to the plan.